Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Let’s hope the weatherman is wrong this time. Here is what he predicted.

Tonight

Windy. Slight chance of rain in the evening...then occasional rain...sleet and snow after midnight. Snow and sleet accumulation 1 to 3 inches. Lows in the upper 20s to lower 30s. East winds 10 to 15 mph increasing to northeast 20 to 30 mph after midnight. Gusts up to 40 mph.

Thursday

Windy. Snow and sleet in the morning...then snow in the afternoon. Snow and sleet accumulation 7 to 9 inches. Highs in the upper 20s to lower 30s. Northeast winds 20 to 30 mph decreasing to 15 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Gusts up to 45 mph.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sunday our RV’s TV said it had enough. Not bad for a 20 year old TV. So off to Wal_Mart for a new one. So many to choose from in all kinds of sizes and price ranges. We are sure we don’t want another 13 inch TV even though it would fit into the dash. 13 inches is just too small, let’s get something just a bit bigger.

How about a 22” or 26” TV, humm that’s not much bigger than our computer monitors. Let’s get the 32 inch Vizio, (he thought). The price is not that much more than a 26 inch TV. Cash in hand James put a 32 inch Vizio TV into a buggy and then on to the checkout he went.

Quick stop at Lowes for shelf brackets, screws and a 1 x 12 x 4.

Back at home, James removed to old 13 inch TV then constructed a shelf attached to the dash to set the new 32 inch TV on. Easy to remove for traveling and easy to set back up when we stop.

Today James went back to town to fetch some cables so he could connect his computer to the new TV. This way we can watch our avi formatted movies on a big screen rather than his 21 inch monitor. The quality of the avi movies are the same quality as DVD movies. We can also watch DVD movies through his computer so we don’t have to purchase a DVD player.

The cables James came home with for the video was a 10 foot monitor cable with a male and female end, a 4 foot monitor cable with male and male ends, a Y monitor cable with one male and two female ends. These cables are 15 pin connection monitor cables. For audio he bought one 20 foot 1/8 inch headset cable with a male and female end, one 3 foot 1/8 inch cable with male connections at both ends.

James connected the male end of the Y cable to his computer then connected his monitor to one of the female ends of the Y cable and the other female end was for the TV. The TV has a RGB 15 pin female connection so that is where he used the 4 foot male/male cable and then connected the male end of the short cable to the female end of the long cable. Video connection completed. For audio he used the short male/male 1/8 inch cable to connecte the back of the TV and the long male/female from his computer speaker jack. Audio complete.

To watch our avi formatted movies all we have to do is open a folder on his computer, locate the movie we want to watch and double click it. Once the program opens the movie we click on “Full Screen” and pause the movie. Then use the TV remote to change the input to RGB and then start the movie. James turns off his computer monitor while we are watching the movie on the TV.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Our Motorhome has a Dometic refrigerator that is about 20 years old. Thursday night around 11:00 pm we noticed that the freezer was self defrosting. For a freezer that is not frost free this is not normal. Something was wrong and had to be seen to quickly even though it was 14 degrees outside with 20 to 30 MPH winds. What were our options at 11:00 pm under those conditions?

First we turned the refrigerator switch off then removed the contents of the freezer and finish the defrosting using a hair dryer. We turned the switch back on and set it to a cooler setting then it had been on. We waited almost an hour to see if the freezer was starting to get cold again. Problem not solved at this point.

Ok since the freezer is not working what should we do. Thaw and cook all the meats that were frozen? Run to Wal-Mart and buy a big ice chest and bags of ice in hopes to save the meats that were thawing? Go out into the cold night and try to find the problem?

James bundled up to avoid frost bite and ventured out into the cold. He has his tools stored in one of the basement bays and needed to get his electric tester to troubleshoot the refrigerator from the outside. He unplugged the refrigerator and tested the outlet for power which showed not having a current. James tested the outlet once more and found there was a current so he checked again and there was no current. Ok faulty outlet, maybe some water had gotten into the outlet housing and caused contacts to become out of place.

James plugged the refrigerator into one of the outside outlets that are on the side of our motorhome. Within a few minutes the freezer started to create frost on the damp areas inside the freezer. Problem temporary solved. We will wait until the weather warms up a bit before James replaces the faulty refrigerator outlet.

Monday, January 4, 2010

... Arctic cold front to impact New Mexico on Wednesday and Thursday...

A bitterly cold Arctic air mass... currently in Saskatchewan and Manitoba Canada... will gradually slide southward and will bring colder conditions to much of New Mexico by mid week. This air mass will bring some of the coldest temperatures observed thus far this season in the eastern half of the state... along with low wind chill values... and light to moderate snow accumulations. The cold front will initially spill into northeastern New Mexico by mid to late morning Wednesday... and will rapidly advance southward and westward to the Central Mountain chain. Strong and gusty winds will accompany the frontal passage where occasional gusts up to 40 and 50 mph will be possible. Light to moderate snowfall is also expected along and behind the front... and therefore some areas of blowing snow will develop Wednesday afternoon and into Wednesday night. In addition... low wind chill values ranging from the single digits to -10 degrees will be possible in north central to northeastern sections of the state where the impact of the front will be greatest.

Less impact is expected in central to western sections of New Mexico. However... as the front advances toward the Central Mountain chain.. some modified cold air and strong winds will likely spill into central canyons and gaps on its way to the Continental Divide. Below normal temperatures and isolated light snow showers will be possible in these areas.

If you plan to be outdoors or travel across New Mexico from Wednesday through Thursday... prepare for blustery conditions. Tune in to NOAA Weather Radio... local media outlets... or the National Weather Service website at weather.Gov/abq for the latest on this upcoming frontal system.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The New Year has gotten off to an unexpected start. New Years day we found a leak on the ceiling in our bedroom. The leak didn’t last very long at all however a leak is a leak no matter how long it last.

Weather leading up to the close of 2009 was snowy and windy. We could not find an entry point that moisture could have pooled and caused a ceiling leak. The rubber membrane contains several air pockets and we even found some areas of soft roofing. This leads us to believe that we have some wood rot under the rubber membrane.

At this point we have a few options until the weather warms up this Spring. One option is to do nothing and wait for the warmer weather. Another option is to slit the rubber membrane at the air pockets, remove the air and any moisture and patch the slits.

This Spring our plan is to remove all the rubber roofing, remove and repair any bad wood, then cover the roof using EPDM Liquid Rubber Roofing. Our research brought us to the following link that explains the use and application of EPDM Rubber Coatings http://www.epdmcoatings.com/videos_play.php?vid=25